Feed-water heater



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

N. OL'UTE.

FEED WATER EEATEE. v No. 455,389. I Patented July 7, 18-91.

THE mama PETERS 00., moi-04.4mm, wnnmuwn n (No- Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

N. CLUTE.

FEED WATER HEATER.

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' v, UNIT D STATES PATEN OFFICE.

NICHOLAS OLUTE, or SOHENEOTADY, NEW YORK.

FEED-WATER HEATER.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,389, dated July 7, 1891.

Application filed March 6, 1891.

To all whom, it may concern.- Be it known that I, NIoHoLAs CLUTE, 'a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenecof which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to heaters for utilizing the exhaust-steam in the heating of feedwater for boilers. In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a feed-water heater embodying my present invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the heater. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section showingthe internal construction of the heater. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section in line a a, Fig. .1.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

My improved heater has a heating-chamher which is also the steam-condensing cham ber, steam passages and pipes leading to and through said chamber, water supplying and discharging pipes, and means for effecting the commingling of the steam and water to condense the steam and thereby heat the water. The heating-chamber is preferably of a rectangular form, substantially as shown in the drawings, and may properly consist of the side walls 2 and 4, the end walls 3 and 5, the bottom plate '7, and a covering at the upper end thereof. Said side walls 2 and 4 are extended on each end thereof beyond the aforesaid end walls 3 and 5 to form the steamchambers 6 and 8, respectively, which are closed by the covers or plates 10 and 12, se-

cured in place by suitable screws, as 9. Steam is brought to said steam-chambers through suitable pipes, as 14. and 16, which lead from the exhaust-pipe 40 of a steam-engine,- said pipes let and 16 being connected to the heater in any well-known and suitable manner. The steam is conducted through and into the heating-chamber by a series of steam-pipes 13, supported in the aforesaid end walls 3 and 5, after the manner of supporting the boilertubes in the tube-sheets of steam-boilers.

For properly distributing the steam to the Serial No. 383,953. (N0 model.)

ever, be substituted for said slotted openings.

For properly supplyingthe feed-water to the heater the top of the heater is provided with the box or water-chamber 17, into which the water is led through a supply-pipe 19,

connected in any suitable manner, as by means of the flanged connection 18, to one side of said box. A cover 20 is removably secured to the top of the water-box by suitable screws or bolts, whereby access may be had to the interior of said box. At a little distance above the lower side of the box there is a floor or horizontal partition 21, having in the middle portion thereof an opening 22 extending nearly or quite the whole length of the box. Under said opening 22 is placed a water-distributing plate 23, between which plate and floor narrow passages 24. and 24 are formed for delivering the Water in thin streams or sheets in opposite directions.

The distributing-plate 23 acts to throw the feed-water t0 the sides of the perforated plate in substantially equal quantities, so as to more uniformly supply the water to the whole cross-sectional area of the heating-chamber.

Under the water-box and covering the heating-chamber I use the perforated plate 25 for delivering the Water into the chamber in the form of numerous small streams. This plate. is or may be held in place by being clamped between the water-box and the top of the heater-casing, as shown.

Over each of the steam-pipes 13 there is a shield or guard-plate 26, whose edges come down close to the plane of the steam-pipe openings or slots 15, as shown in Fig. 4. Inclined water-shedding plates 28 are arranged, on either side of the vertical row of steampipes, and set to deliver the descending streams or sheets of water onto the aforesaid shields or guard-plates, from whence the water runs off onto the projecting streams of steam, whereby the water is blown outward and falls onto the nextlower water-shed, the

steam and water-being 'thoroughly commingled in the operation. The water entering at the top of the heater passes down over the successive sheds and shields, and is succes- 5 sively sprayed and oommingled with the succomes filled with steam, and the heatingjis,

done chiefly or wholly in the upper portion of said chamber. When the heater is work- .ing in this manner, the resistance to the outflow of steam naturally increases in the lowermost of the pipes, while the condensation at the upper part of the chamber produces a suction, naturally increasing the outflow of steam through the uppermost pipes. In practice these operations are of course selfregulating, and the heating of the water is extended downward from the top of the chamber in accordance with the supply of water relatively to the supply of steam. By this means the heater is adapted for heating a variable supply and works smoothly without the violent agitations common to the old forms of spray-heaters, which, as a rule, are well adapted only for heating a regular'supply and to Work under substantially uniform conditions. The heated water is discharged through a suitable outlet-pipe, as 42, set at the normal water-line b b of the heater.

The steam-pipe shields serve to guide the water and also to protect the steam-pipe from being chilled by the water, thus preventing condensation of steam within the steam-pipe itself. This feature overcomes one of the obstacles encountered in many kinds of heaters and prevents the making of the objectionable water-hammer action by accumulation of the water in the pipes.

For the purpose of disposing of the condensed water sometimes coming down from the exhaust-pipes and forming to some extent in the steam-chambers at the sides of the heater, I extend said steam-chambers downward below the normal Water-line b h, Fig. 3, and connect them by passage 30 with the lower end of the heating-chamber. The hot Water collecting in the lower end of said chamber will stand above the passages and fill also the lower part of said steam-chambers up to the normal water-line b b, Fig. 3. Any accumulation of condensed water in the steamchambers flows through. said passages into the heater-chamber, and is thus disposed of. This arrangement prevents in a large degree the passage of any condensed water into the steam-distribution pipes 13 and also provides for the disposition of any which may form in said pipes-as, for instance, when the cooled heater is being put into use.

The water-shedding plates or water-sheds 28 may be cast integral with the walls of the heating-chamber, or the same may be made separate from the walls of the heater and be affixed thereto inany suitable manner, as by riveting or'by means of bolts. (Not shown.)

The heater should be provided with a ventvalve 27, set preferablyimmediately below the plate 25, whereby when the heater is put into service the air may be allowed to escape.

One of the principal objects in my present invention is to furnish a heater in which the 'jfeed-water may be delivered at substantially the temperature of the steam, or nearly 212 Fahrenheit. v

It will of course be understood thatthis feed- Water heater may be connected and arranged intermediate to a steam-engine and the boilerfeeding pump, and to operate as a condenser for assisting the engine, after the manner of other kinds of water-heating condensers now in use.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim- 1. In a feed-water heater, the combination, with the heating-chamber, of the steam-pipe having an opening at the side thereof for the steam, and the guard-plate set over the steampipe and having its edge above and contiguous to the plane of the steam-pipe opening, substantially as described.

2. In a feed-water heater, the combination, with the heatingechamber, of the steam-pipe therein, the guard-plate over the steam-pipe, and the oppositely-disposed water-shedding plates, substantially as described, terminating over the guard-plate, substantially as described.

3. In a feed-Water heater, the combination, with the heating-chamber, of the steam-pipes and their guard-plates, the water-shedding plates set in oppositely-disposed pairs intermediate in height to the several steam-pipes, each pair of said plates being set to deliver the descending streams of water onto the next lower guard-plate.

4. In a feed-water heater, the combination, with the heating-chamber and means supplying steam thereto, of the water-box having the longitudinal opening in the floor thereof and the water-distributing plate set below said opening, whereby the water is distributed to the opposite sides of the heatingchamber, substantially as described.

5. In a feed-water heater, the combination, with the heating-chamber and means supplying steam thereto, of the water-box having a longitudinal opening in the floor thereof, a distributing-plate, substantially as described, fixed below said opening, and the perforated plate between the water-box and heatingchamber, whereby the water is delivered to the opposite sides of the chamber in substantially equal quantities in numerous small streams, substantially as described,

.6. In a feed-water heater, the combination, nected below the normal water-line with thewith the heating-chamber andpipes, substan-- heating-chambers,substantially as described. tially as described, supplying steam thereto, and means supplying water t the chamber, NICHOLAS CLUTE.

5 of the steam-chambers at the sides of the Witnesses: n

heating-chamber and extending to the lower FRANCIS H. RICHARDS; part thereof, said steanrchambers being con- HENRY L. RECKARD. 

